1. Introduction

This is a high-level summary of the UK House Price Index (HPI). For full details, including commentary, historical data tables and analytical tools please see the main publication of the House Price Index, published today (15 August 2017) by HM Land Registry on the GOV.UK website.

2. Things you need to know about this release

The UK HPI is a joint production by HM Land Registry, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland, Office for National Statistics and Registers of Scotland. These departments will continue to work together to produce the release but ministers and those officials not directly involved in the production and release of statistics will not have access to them in advance of publication.

The UK HPI, introduced in June 2016, includes all residential properties purchased for market value in the UK. However, as sales only appear in the UK HPI once the purchases have been registered, there can be a delay before transactions feed into the index. As such, caution is advised when interpreting prices changes in the most recent periods as they are liable to be revised. Since 13 June 2017, we have extended our revision period to 12 months. Further information is provided in our revision policy.

3. UK all dwellings

Average house prices in the UK have increased by 4.9% in the year to June 2017 (down from 5.0% in the year to May 2017). The annual growth rate has slowed since mid-2016 but has remained broadly around 5% during 2017.

Figure 1: Annual house price rates of change, UK all dwellings from January 2006 to June 2017

Source: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland and Office for National Statistics

Source: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland and Office for National Statistics

Notes:

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4. House price index, by UK country

The main contribution to the increase in UK house prices came from England, where house prices increased by 5.2% over the year to June 2017, with the average price in England now £240,000. Wales saw house prices increase by 3.6% over the last 12 months to stand at £152,000. In Scotland, the average price increased by 2.9% over the year to stand at £144,000. The average price in Northern Ireland currently stands at £129,000, an increase of 4.4% over the year to Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2017.

Figure 3: Average house price, by UK country, January 2005 to June 2017

Source: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland and Office for National Statistics

Notes:

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5. House price index, by English region

On a regional basis, London continues to be the region with the highest average house price at £482,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, which stand at £320,000 and £287,000 respectively. The lowest average price continues to be in the North East at £130,000.

Figure 4: Average house price, by English region, January 2004 to June 2017

Source: HM Land Registry and Office for National Statistics

Notes:

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The East of England showed the highest annual growth, with prices increasing by 7.2% in the year to June 2017. This was followed by the East Midlands at 7.1%. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 2.5% over the year, followed by London at 2.9%.

Figure 5: All dwellings annual house price rates of change, year to June 2017: by English region

Source: HM Land Registry and Office for National Statistics

Notes:

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6. House price index, by UK local authority district

The local authority showing the largest annual growth in the year to June 2017 was the Orkney Islands, where prices increased by 27.9% to stand at £148,000. Low numbers of sales transactions in some local authorities and London boroughs, such as the Orkney Islands, City of London and Na h-Eileanan Siar can lead to volatility in the series. Whilst efforts are made to account for this volatility, the change in price in these local levels can be influenced by the type and number of properties sold in any given period. The lowest annual growth was recorded in City of London, where prices fell by 20.3% to stand at £724,000.

In June 2017, the most expensive borough to live in was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was £1.4 million. In contrast, the cheapest area to purchase a property was Blaenau Gwent, where an average house cost £80,000.

Table 1: Top and bottom five UK local authority districts by annual growth in the year to June 2017

Top 5 Local Authorities

% change

Average price (£)

Orkney Islands

27.9

147,929

Tendring

13.1

213,888

Copeland

12.9

126,875

Maldon

12.8

316,873

Kensington And Chelsea

12.8

1,405,521

Bottom 5 Local Authorities

% change

Average price (£)

City of London

-20.3

723,576

Na h-Eileanan Siar

-16.0

93,015

City of Aberdeen

-10.0

163,847

Pendle

-6.3

87,928

Sunderland

-4.2

110,404

Source: HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland and Land and Property Services Northern Ireland.